AFP and AP, TOKYO and BEIJING
Japan on Wednesday rejected Beijing’s accusations that the Japanese military harassed a Chinese aircraft carrier strike group during 40 days of exercises in “distant waters” of the Pacific.The Chinese navy earlier this week said that Japanese ships and aircraft “repeatedly engaged in close-range tracking, surveillance, harassment and provocation.”China said a formation led by its Liaoning aircraft carrier had operated in areas including the South China Sea and the western Pacific for “multiple rounds of day-and-night offensive and defensive exercise.”
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning sails in the western Pacific Ocean on April 18, 2018.
The Liaoning group “maintained a high state of alert throughout, launching carrier-based aircraft for combat sorties ... and steadily responding to the dangerous actions of the Japanese side,” it said.However, Japan’s Joint Staff wrote on X that the claims were “not factual.”
“The Ministry of Defense and Self-Defense Forces will continue to conduct professional and steady vigilance and surveillance in the surrounding sea and airspace of our country,” it said.Meanwhile, China yesterday defended its patrols in waters east of Taiwan, one day after Britain, France and Germany expressed alarm about what they described as “novel Chinese activity.”Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said that the “law-enforcement and patrol activities” were aimed at maintaining regional stability and maritime order.“These are necessary actions in response to Japan’s and the Philippines’ manipulation of maritime delimitation issues and infringement upon China’s maritime rights and interests,” Guo said.The coast guard’s activities were “legitimate exercises of jurisdiction in accordance with the law,” he said.A joint statement from the de facto embassies of the three European nations in Taiwan said that China’s actions threatened regional stability, freedom of navigation and the safety of international shipping.The US also expressed concern about the activity.Taiwan earlier this month said that China Coast Guard ships were harassing commercial vessels near the nation by asking them to report their intended routes.
